Friday, December 10, 2010

Lately there has been a lot of buzz in the Orthodox Jewish world over the band fall bump phenomenon. You may ask, what is this phenomenon she speaks of? Well to be more clear, integrating ones bangs (or fringe) with a band fall to create a more natural look. The reason that clipping bangs over a wig is so risque is because in the "mainstream" orthodox world (think typical Brooklyn yeshivish) it is seen as unacceptable to show any hair. Therefore, full sheitels have become the preferred hair covering because they cover ALL of the hair, they are more secure than a hat or scarf and less likely to blow off, and the women will feel more comfortable covering their hair in a society where most women go bareheaded. Wigs are often associated with only being worn by hasidic or ultra orthodox Jews, however this concept has certainly changed in America in the past 20 years. However, in Israel, wigs are almost exclusively associated with haredim (ultra-orthodox Jews).

Back to the point... Now we have a group of married Jewish women, covering their hair with wigs but purposely leaving out a few inches in the front. A generation ago very few Modern Orthodox women covered their hair at all. If they did, they most likely covered partially with either a hat or a half scarf. But the new generation of modern Orthodox women is rediscovering the laws of hair covering AND working in professional careers that require a polished look. Showing the bangs, or the front two inches of the hairline is justified under the idea that a woman is allowed to show a square tefach (hand breadth) of hair. (some rabbis allow, ask your LOR) Thus we get the bump fall look! or the styled forward bangs with headband look.

The second interesting trend is the appearance of toppers or kippah falls in the Jewish world. Since toppers are worn over ones hair when down, they certainly reveal more than a tefach of hair. BUT, there are a whole group of religious women who cover their head in such a fashion. They always have a hat or scarf on but the rest of their hair will be showing. (some rabbis allow, ask your LOR). Thus, the topper allows them to have a head covering on, but look "normal" if needing to attend a wedding or go to work without being stared at.

Alright, so lets see some pictures!!! The blond in this picture is doing the bump. A bunch of the wigs in this picture are actually placed a few millimeters behind the hairline for a more natural look.... And here is my lovely "perfect match" bump.

8
comments:

I prefer the "bump fall" look for those who show hair in front of their fall. It's like saying , "that's RIGHT a tefach is muter (permissible)."

-- F

Anonymous
said...

what's a kippah fall?

Anonymous
said...

A "kippah fall" is a topper that is worn over one's own exposed hair. The fall hair is integrated with the wearer's real hair, creating a more natural look.

I think that this image is a good example of how one would attach a kippah fall to her own hair: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.todaystylist.com/LL_Fall_143%2520H%2520big%25203.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.heralopecia.com/interact/viewtopic.php%3Ff%3D22%26t%3D9588%26view%3Dprevious&usg=__A9nFUlLr5ZH2_r_W4cyn-zOI1OI=&h=347&w=275&sz=23&hl=en&start=0&sig2=Njy9cvuh0-yCU5-pDE8lTQ&zoom=1&tbnid=wBudx1KI5aDr9M:&tbnh=156&tbnw=120&ei=NnAFTaW1LIr6swOaqNmvDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtopper%2Bwig%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1536%26bih%3D742%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=1044&vpy=396&dur=1821&hovh=252&hovw=199&tx=66&ty=180&oei=NnAFTaW1LIr6swOaqNmvDQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:21,s:0

Though stringent myself, I don't have a problem with others having the bump. I am concerned for the people who did it because they "saw someone else do it." When it comes to these kinds of halachas it always ends up being a "chicken in the pot" story.

There was a woman who always cut off a chunk of the chicken before she put it in her pan to cook. She would cook the chicken and throw the chunk of meat away. Her daughter watched her for years and finally asked, "Ma, why do you cut off a perfectly good piece of chicken and then throw it away?" The mother replied, "Because that's what grandma did when I was a kid, I don't know why." So the women goes to ask her grandmother, "Grandma, why do you throw a perfectly good piece of chicken away before you cook the chicken." The grandmother said, "Because dearie, that's what my mom did, I don't know why." So the woman goes to the nursing home and asks her Nana "Nana, why did you cut off a perfectly good piece of chicken and throw it away before you cook the chicken?" The Nana replied, "I only had one pot, and it was too small for a whole chicken. So I had to cut off a chunk and throw it out."

People should always set out about learning the halachas for themselves, consulting their LOR, and surmising their comfort level, and the community's level. Not making an informed decision can come back to bite you.

Anonymous
said...

My rav just spoke about this on Shabbas. There is not a heter for doing any of these things.

What people are mistakenly referring to when they say a tefach is muter is a tschuva by Rav Moshe Feinstein in which someone asked him about saying brachos in front of his wife if her hair wasn't totally covered.

Rav Moshe said that once tefach (total area) was the most that could be showing for him to be able to say a bracha.

That doesn't mean that uncovering part of your hair is halachically acceptable. I feel so sad when I see people doing this with their wigs and band falls and toppers. Most of women don't even know it's not ok, but assume it is bc "everyone does it."

Dear Anonymous - I wish you could have posted your name. First of all what does showing a tefach of hair have to do with other women's husbands thinking I am sexy? There are plenty of "sexy" sheitels out there that are halachically valid.

Secondly, just because your rabbi says bump falls are not within the realm of halacha, doesn't mean that my rabbi agrees with him.

I am very happy that you are happy with how you cover your hair and how you keep tznius and I am glad that its in line with you and your rabbis views, but I would appreciate if you kept that to yourself and not to blatantly accuse others of not keeping halacha properly. People are on very different levels. Some people just aren't on a high enough level to cover all of their hair, and others do not believe that hair is ervah at all and some believe that you only need a head covering not a hair covering and hence they wear hats and headbands with all their hair hanging out.

Whatever it is, let each woman make this decision with her personal rabbi for herself and not rely on your anonymous comment on my blog.

Lastly, you assume that women follow trends like shorter skirts, tight clothes and heels to attract other women's husbands? That is ridiculous. Some women just like looking nice and wearing what fits them. They also want to look nice for their husbands and not shlumpy. Even if women were wearing long black cloaks there would be men that stare at their attractive faces and think that they are sexy... does that mean we should be wearing face veils too?

Anonymous
said...

Dear Chavi,

Totally agree with you, there are plenty of full sheitels that cover every hair and are still not tznius. But I do agree with the anonymous poster on a lot of points.

You wrote: "People are on very different levels. Some people just aren't on a high enough level to cover all of their hair, and others do not believe that hair is ervah at all and some believe that you only need a head covering not a hair covering and hence they wear hats and headbands with all their hair hanging out."

I have no issue with people who aren't there yet, my issue is with women who "believe" not covering all your hair is fine. If a person has asked her rav, and he has paskened that she can indeed show her hair, than great. But have you asked your rav about showing your hair? I doubt most women who do it have.

Second, I don't at all assume women dress the way they do bc they want other women's husbands to look at them. But come on! We're married women, we know the effect that provocative clothing has on men. It's so disingenuous to pretend otherwise.

Wanting to look nice for your husband and wanting to wear clothes that fit has nothing to do with wearing clothes that are too tight, too short, and too provocative. It's not a steera to dress tzniusly and look good.

We don't need veils, but we do need to stop pretending that tight, short clothes, super-high heels, long sexy sheitels, and showing hair are ok. They just aren't.

Anonymous
said...

I 100% agree with the previous 2 "Anonymouses". How many women who pull the front section of their hair out of their sheitel do it because a Rav told them it is halachically permissible, and how many do it out of ignorance, or, even worse, "pushing the boundaries"? Perhaps it is my personal ignorance, but is there even one legitimate Rav who says that it is ok to show the front section of one's hair (and by that I mean more than a few inches/more than a tefach)? I personally have not heard of this, but please correct me if I am misguided.

On a different note, props to the previous Anonymous for her comment about dressing provocatively. "It's not a steera to dress tzniusly and look good"! We need more of this mindset, ladies! There is an issur d'oraisa to show one's knees - this has nothing to do with "not looking shlumpy" or "wearing what fits you." If halacha mandates it, there is no room for excuses.